


Pick A Flower

by Mr_Ghost (Mx_Nobody)



Series: Everything Stays [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Bato/Hakoda - Freeform, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Hakoda (Avatar) is a Good Parent, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Nightmares, Self-Esteem Issues, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zuko's Scar (Avatar)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:46:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25306213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mx_Nobody/pseuds/Mr_Ghost
Summary: The first time Zuko looks at himself in the mirror without the bandages on he cries.“It’s not bad, nephew,” uncle says, “It’s a sign that you survived.”-part 2 of Everything Stays series. don’t need to read part one but it does provide some context
Relationships: Aang & Gyatso, Appa & Zuko (Avatar), Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Everything Stays [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1826950
Comments: 8
Kudos: 337





	Pick A Flower

The first time Zuko looks at himself in the mirror without the bandages on he cries. The skin around his left eye, down to his mid-cheek, up into his hairline and behind his ear were red and leathery. His left ear is shriveled and ugly. He wipes his tears and lets uncle rub ointment into the skin.

“It’s not bad, nephew,” uncle says, “It’s a sign that you survived.”

When he gets to school, the staring is worse than when he came back with bandages and the whispers are back full force. He hates how students and teachers alike look at him with pity. He’s fine. He doesn’t need their pity.

His friends, thankfully, don’t change too much with the new presence of his scar. They occasionally will glance nervously at him, and he has to remind them (quietly of course) that he’s partly blind and deaf now. They adjust to the change, of course, and he hadn’t really expected them to care too much about that. Toph was blind and they didn’t treat her any differently for it. 

Zuko though, was not adjusting easily. His depth perception was shit, and he still forgets that he was mostly deaf sometimes. He had to change seats in most of his class, so now in any class he had with his friends, he no longer sat with them.

Zuko starts refusing haircuts. He hates the way it feels when the hairdresser cuts his hair, his hand is always too close to his face. It scares him. He doesn’t even like when uncle does it. His hair had to be shaved because of the burn, so it’s not as long as it could be. But it’s still longer than most other kids. Uncle doesn’t mind that he grows it out. He says whatever makes him feel the most comfortable is the best. 

Most of the bruises Father had given him are gone now, just a few remain but they no longer hurt unless he pushes on them. Sometimes he does, when he wakes up in the middle of the night from a nightmare. He just needs to feel something, to know that he’s alive, that it’s not all a dream. He really does live with uncle now, father really is locked up and can’t hurt him anymore. He doesn’t know what he’ll do when they disappear, but he doesn’t really like to think about that.

He spends a lot more time with his friends outside of school now. Bato or Hakoda usually drive them around if they don’t hang out at The Jasmine Dragon. None of his friends question why he suddenly lives with his uncle instead of his dad now. He’s sure they’ve connected the dots, constant bruises, jumps easily, never hangs out after school, disappears for 2 weeks and then comes back with a giant scar and a new guardians? That pretty much spells out abuse in big bold letters. But he wouldn’t be surprised if someone had told them not to ask questions.

Part of him wants to tell them, they’re his friends, they deserve to know about it. But he can’t bring himself to get the words out of his mouth. He’s not ready. He honestly doesn’t even know if Toph knows about his face. Unless someone told her, she probably doesn’t. 

He actually sees Appa, the dog from the courthouse, again when Aang invites everyone over. Which is surprising but not unwelcome. He apparently belongs to Aang and his guardian Gyatso. 

“He’s an emotional support dog. He helps me with my anxiety.” Aang told them while rubbing his face into Appa’s fur. He also had a cat named Momo, who Sokka has immediately claimed as the best cat in the world. Zuko agrees, but he also doesn’t know many cats besides the stay ones around the tea shop uncle would occasionally feed. 

Aang introduces them to Gyatso. He’s a soft spoken tall, skinny old man with a white mustache. He thinks that he and uncle would get along if they didn’t already know each other.

They hang out in Aang's backyard playing with Appa for a while before it gets dark and they go inside to play mario kart. Zuko loses every game. 

Uncle picks him up at 10:30. He had a good time. And he tells uncle that. Uncle seems glad. It’s nice. 

Night time is not a good time for Zuko. He’s plagued by nightmares and insomnia. He hasn’t had a proper night's sleep in far too long. The medication he has doesn’t really help either. It makes him drowsy, but not drowsy enough to sleep. He only gets maybe 4 hours of sleep every night, usually broken up by a nightmare or too. He spends most nights playing games on his phone. poking at bruises or just staring out his window. Uncle tells him that he can wake him up if he needs to, but Zuko doesn’t want to bother him. He’s already bothering him enough just by living with him. And besides, uncle deserves his rest.

But the lack of sleep does make school harder. He has a tendency to fall asleep during class. Which of course makes his grades drop, and while uncle may claim he doesn’t care about his grades as long as he’s passing, he _knows_ uncle must be disappointed in him. Azula still has all A’s and B’s and he’s struggling to pass. He’s the failed child. Even if uncle claims he doesn’t see it that way and that his happiness is more important than his grades, Zuko knows how these things work. He’ll _always_ be the failed kid. Especially when compared to Azula.

One night though, after a particularly bad nightmare ( _Uncle stands over him this time instead of father._

 _“you’ll always be a failure Zuko, I was foolish to care for you.”_ ) Zuko creeps into his uncle's room with tears streaming down his face. He stands there in the darkness for a second, unsure of what to do. But before he can do anything, his uncle stirs and sits up in bed. 

“Zuko? are you okay?” Zuko shakes his head. 

“Come here,” Uncle says. Zuko quietly walks over to uncle's bed and lets him wrap Zuko in a hug. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don’t know” Zuko whispers truthfully. 

“Just tell me when you're ready.” Zuko sits in his uncle's arms in silence for a while. It’s comforting. 

“I had another nightmare about it,” Zuko whispers.

“How often do you have nightmares?” Uncle asks

“Every night. sometimes more than once.” it’s quiet for a second. Zuko messes up.

“Zuko,” Uncle starts 

“I’m sorry, I-I didn’t want to bother you.” 

“No, Zuko it’s okay,” Uncle holds him tighter, “You aren’t bothering me. Does the medicine help any?”

“No, Not really.”

“Okay, we can talk to your doctor about it.”

Uncle stays with Zuko until he falls back asleep. And he’s there when Zuko wakes up hours later from another nightmare. He feels safe. 

**Author's Note:**

> how come i can’t do stupid things at night with a group of close knit friends before we exchange trauma and hugs? the stupidest thing i’ve done with friends was put sticky notes on my neighbors fence but that was before Trauma, during the day AND we just got the cops called on us 👎  
> follow me on twitter @zukokinnie pls 🥺


End file.
